Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 833,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 50,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.18, for a total value of $1,614,534.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,998,760 shares in the company, valued at $804,460,096.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 50,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.18, for a total value of $1,614,534.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,998,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $804,460,096.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 10,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.11, for a total transaction of $336,994.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 104,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,540.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 641,465 shares of company stock valued at $20,532,684. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZWS. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 649.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZWS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ZWS traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $28.89. 312,088 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,548. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 3.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.32 and its 200-day moving average is $31.01. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 1 year low of $25.09 and a 1 year high of $34.58.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $374.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $369.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.07%.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names.